EU to plot telecom reforms this year: FT

LONDON – The European Union will set out reforms for a pan-European telecommunications market this year to support competition and investment in the sector, the bloc's telecoms chief, Neelie Kroes, said in an interview with the Financial Times.

"We're working on a range of measures to create common and stable conditions across the EU for telecoms competition, investment and growth, which should also make cross-border consolidation more attractive," the European commissioner for digital agenda said in comments published on the paper's website on Sunday.

Kroes said she was not seeking a single regulator, but greater cooperation between the European Commission and national regulators, as well as asset-sharing between companies to promote investment.

The comments followed a report in the Financial Times on Wednesday that EU competition chief Joaquin Almunia had met with the heads of Europe's big telecoms groups to discuss a pan-European infrastructure network.

However, industry sources later played down the idea of a single network, saying the November meeting had focused on whether the large number of operators could be consolidated through takeovers.